Closewrit

Although Drakiss Script is strange and unfamiliar to most non-drakiss it is very straightforward to learn and to read, though in many of the more traditional forms it can be slow, especially when writing. Furthermore it is well known to most Drakiss through its use in the Lineage. In circumstances where secrecy is required, mst typically in communications between different groups or drakiss, or in recording of confidential records a variation known ac closewrit is used.

At a glance closewrit looks just like any other piece of drakiss script though any more than the most fleeting of glances will show it to be nonsense, or possibly a transcription of some other language. The general principle of closewrit is straightforward and well known; the security coming from the key that is used.

For those unfamiliar with drakiss script, each character is represented by one of 32 patterns which involve six positions which are marked with one of two options - this could be a large knot and a small knot; a dot and a cross; a short scratch and a long scratch. In all cases the marks can be thought of as "big" and "small"¹. The principle underlying closewrit is to combine this sequence with a key sequence to create the message. Treating each mark independently the two are combined - small and small becoming big, big and small becoming small and so on. For example...

Plain Text	::..:: ..:..: :.::.: .::.:.
Key	..:.:. :.:.:: :.::.. :::..:
Encyphered text	...::: .:::.: :::::. .:::..

History and Development

The earliest records to survive which demonstrate the use of closewrit are the messages sent from Jorrath's Crew to Sbrithnir's Crew by Weruru in the late 20's MD but it is certain that it had been in use for some time before then as the archives of Sbrithnir's Crew include a report by Weruru (before they transferred crews in 225SY) on a case where a short key had been broken and suggesting a minimum length of 40 characters, and suggesting the discarding of pre-arranged parts of the key.

On the Key

For systems of encipherment of this type, the key is of paramount importance. Most uses of closewrit use a short phrase which is repeated as often as necessary for the length of the text. Short keys have been broken or guessed on several recorded occasions and sometimes other tricks are used to improve the security of the key, such as ignoring the first position of each character in the key (Weruru's Key).

¹ Indeed in the earliest of drakiss script examples a single mark was used and this would have been mark and no mark, but the practice of "big" and "small" has now become universal as it is much clearer when there are a series of "small" marks.